


The Death Clock

by TheFoolsKnightober (TheFoolsKnight)



Series: Whumptober 2020 [4]
Category: The Eldest Curses Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26814916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoolsKnight/pseuds/TheFoolsKnightober
Summary: Whumptober Day 4 - Collapsed BuildingIn a universe where your wrist counts down to the moment you meet your soulmate after which it immediately shows the time when they'll die, Magnus gets a shock when he notices in the middle of an ordinary work day that his timer has changed. Except he has already met his soulmate, and he has one hour left.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Whumptober 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947043
Comments: 5
Kudos: 111





	The Death Clock

Everyone had a soulmate. It was the simple truth of the universe. 

Everyone was born with a timer on their wrists, a timer that counted down to the moment they would meet their soulmate. And after the soulmates met for the first time, the timer would reset itself, now ticking down to the moment when the soulmate would die.

It was extremely morbid, of course, and Magnus never understood why something so twisted should exist. He dreaded the moment he'd meet his soulmate, dreaded looking at his wrist and seeing just how much time he had left with his soulmate. What if the numbers decreed that he had mere months, or maybe even days or hours or  _ minutes  _ until he lost his soulmate forever? What then? Besides, who on earth would want to know of the moment their soulmate would die immediately after meeting him?

Despite all his dread, the moment arrived, of course. Alexander Lightwood had bumped into him, quite literally, the moment his timer ticked out, and he was an exceptional beauty with an excellent smile. Their wrists had proclaimed a good sixty years of life together, and all was well.

Until that fateful day, when in the midst of work, Magnus had glanced at his wrist and saw that sixty years had suddenly switched to an hour, and froze.

He had heard of the timers changing, of course. They changed depending on what decisions you made, and before Magnus had met Alec, he was used to the timer changing by a few minutes or hours, or on one occasion, by a week. Never had he seen a change of this magnitude, and now that it was a  _ death  _ timer-

Oh. No.

Magnus immediately picked up his phone and called Alec.

"Alexander? Where are you?!" Magnus demanded as soon as Alec picked up, half relieved that Alec had picked up at all.

"I'm at the art gallery. Why?"

"The one that what's-his-face invited you to? I thought you didn't want to go there!"

"His name is John. Also I was bored and I changed my mind. It was a very last moment decision."

"Ok fine, whatever, that's not why I called, though," Magnus said, looking at his wrist. Fifty five minutes left. "Just stay right there. I'm gonna come over to you in a bit."

"Why-" Alec began, and then was immediately cut off by a loud noise. Magnus could hear all sorts of noises - screaming and crashing and rumbling like a deathly earthquake - and the coldness that had enveloped him ever since he saw the change in the timer now went down to his bones.

"Alexander?" Magnus said, but there was no reply. " _ Alexander!" _

Magnus wasted no time in running out of his workplace and catching a taxi to the art gallery. The whole time, he held his phone to his ear, hoping to hear Alec's voice, but nothing came through. Magnus's eyes were fixed to his wrist, and he had no idea whether it was just because of his nerves, but time seemed to be ticking rapidly. He could feel his heart in his throat and hoped he could reach Alec as fast as possible. 

They were supposed to have sixty years together. 

By the time the taxi reached the venue, plenty of time had passed and Magnus had only thirty minutes to find Alec. Magnus pressed some bills into the taxi driver's hand and stepped outside, his breath hitching at the scene in front of him.

Where the art gallery once stood was now a pile of rubble. People were gathered around it, some sitting on the pavement, injured, some clearly in a state of shock, and a few sobbing and lamenting. Alec was nowhere to be seen, which could only mean one thing.

His heart stopped.

"Alexander!" Magnus screamed, running towards the rubble. The emergency services were already there, sorting through the rubble, and they by and large ignored everyone else who was looking in the rubble. Magnus scrambled through the rubble, looking this way and that way, without the slightest of ideas on what he was supposed to do. Time was ticking away, and if he couldn't save Alec, he could at least have a final word with him.

His hands were shaking. His breath was starting to come out shallow. Magnus forced himself to calm down, and walked around the rubble. If he had to upend every stone to find Alec, he would.

Around him, Magnus could hear the sounds of rubble shifting and people murmuring. Magnus frantically upturned a piece of rubble, fingers catching on the rough ends and tearing through skin, but he could care less. His first priority was to find Alec.

The timer was down to ten minutes now, and Magnus tried not to panic. There was too much rubble now, and not enough time.

Through the daze of panic, an idea struck Magnus. He didn't know whether it would work. Nevertheless, he called Alec's phone, his hands quivering as he listened intently for the sound of Alec's ringtone. 

For a few moments, Magnus couldn't hear it, but then there it was - a faint ringing sound from somewhere to his right.

Gasping out in obvious relief, Magnus ran towards the sound. When he was sure he was standing near the phone, he bent down and turned over the rubble, running on pure adrenaline, until he saw the white hand that stood out among the gray of the rubble.

Magnus choked on a sob and grabbed at the rest of the rubble, moving quickly to free Alec. Someone must've seen him and realized that there was a person there, because a few people came over to help Magnus shift the rubble until, at last, Alec's body was completely unearthed.

Alec was lying on his side, his dark clothes dusted white with powdered cement, his body poised awkwardly as if he’d had no time to move before the building collapsed. A pool of dark blood surrounded him, and Magnus felt numb, as if someone had reached into his chest and dug out his heart. He reached out to touch Alec, smoothing away his hair from his blood-soaked forehead, and choked on a sob when he saw the timer on his wrist.

Forty minutes. He now had forty minutes.

"The hospital," Magnus croaked out, looking up at the people who had helped him out. "Please, we need to take him to the hospital."

Forty minutes was more than enough to get Alec to a hospital, and yet Magnus couldn't breathe properly until the timer changed once more, showing a full sixty years ahead of him, at which he’d buried his face in his hands, hiding his ragged breathing from the people passing by.

He had been sitting in the cold metallic chairs, unable to quite believe this. He had almost lost Alec, and if it weren't for the timer…

Magnus shook off those thoughts. What mattered was that Alec was with him now, and he was safe.

Maybe that was the purpose of them. To give soulmates another chance, to be able to save each other. 

A nurse stepped outside, informing Magnus that he was allowed to see Alec. He stood up, took in a deep breath, and stepped inside. 

"Are you okay?" Alec asked as soon as he saw Magnus. He closed the door behind him, and walked up to Alec, sitting on the bed beside him. Alec silently held out a hand, which had a tube hooked into it, and Magnus took it.

“I should be asking  _ you,”  _ Magnus said with a small smile. “Are you okay, Alexander?”

Alec shrugged. “I’m as fine as I can be.”

Magnus shifted closer, lifting Alec’s hand up to his mouth and kissing it. “Good.”

“How did you know to find me?” Alec asked.

“The timer had changed,” Magnus explained, scrubbing a hand over his face. “God, Alexander, I was  _ so _ scared-“

“It’s okay.” Alec squeezed his hand. “I’m here now.”

Magnus leaned in, carefully wrapping his arms around Alec and tucking his head into Alec’s shoulder. It wasn't until Alec's arms wound around him that he was finally at peace.

Sixty years. They still had sixty years.


End file.
